Published: September 6, 2025
Right now, the princess with Schwarz and his group should be Altansia. So, when I heard Schwarz and the others talking, I understood that Altansia had been working hard, pouring mana into the library, and I sincerely admired her.
“Did Altansia-sensei pour a lot of mana into it? Both Schwarz and Weiss must be glad.”
“My mana is very little when you consider the amount needed for the library,” Altansia said modestly, having come out to see off the royal family. But I thought anyone working hard for the library must be a good person.
“By the way, what’s this ‘Old Master’?”
As Altansia and I exchanged smiles, Anastasius cut through the air to speak. Gray’s eyes questioned, and Altansia and Solange exchanged glances. They probably didn’t have an answer suitable for royalty. Instead, Schwarz and the others responded.
“Old Master is Old Master.”
“Old and great.”
It was exactly the same answer I had heard before. The way their ears twitched was cute, but it was still completely baffling.
If they were royalty, maybe they had some idea about “Old Master,” so I looked up at Anastasius and Eglantine, but both looked just as confused.
“…What is that supposed to mean?”
Anastasius seemed to quickly give up gathering information from Schwarz and his group and shifted his gaze back to Altansia and Solange, looking troubled about what to answer.
“Previously, Solange-sensei said that ‘Old Master’ might be an older magic tool than Schwarz and Weiss, right?”
I said, and Solange nodded.
“Yes. But we don’t know for sure, Lady Rosemine. I thought maybe there was a magic tool that was called by a name like Schwarz and the others, but when documenting, they don’t use nicknames. Instead, they describe the tool based on its purpose, so it’s difficult to find if a magic tool called ‘Old Master’ exists.”
Apparently, to prevent confusion when nicknames fall out of use and it’s unclear what magic tool is being referred to, the records don’t use such nicknames.
“Oh? But the librarian’s diary I borrowed before had Schwarz and the others written by their actual names…”
“That is a personal diary, not something saved publicly,” Solange said.
I heard that almost no personal diaries remain.
“I have also researched magic tools, but I haven’t come across the name ‘Old Master’.”
Altansia, who recently researched magic tools with Raimund, said this as if searching her memory.
“However, if ‘Old Master’ was pleased by the mana supplied today, then perhaps that magic tool is the ‘Old Master’.”
“I see. What kind of magic tool is it?”
“Because it is a magic tool that can be called the foundation of the library, it is thought to have been made in an era older than Schwarz and the others.”
Anastasius seemed convinced by Altansia’s words and lightly nodded, “If it is the foundation, then surely it is an old and great magic tool.” Having accepted that, he started to leave, so I hurriedly called out to him.
“Prince Anastasius, when will you be going to the archives? We need to announce the day you will come so the library side can prepare.”
Royal permission is needed to enter the library, so I asked excitedly about the next schedule. But Anastasius slightly raised his eyebrow and said bluntly, “I have no plans.”
“Why? If you recognized the importance in this ceremony, wouldn’t investigating the archives full of precious materials be your top priority?”
Why did we involve the royal family in this ceremony? Although it was partly to suppress complaints from around, my true purpose was to let them understand the importance of the ceremony and say, “We must definitely examine the valuable materials in the underground archives!”
…The ceremony ended without any problems, so why!?
Where did my calculations go wrong?
“I will be busy for a while. I must nourish Jurgenschmidt with the mana entrusted to me.”
It was natural that the royal family would become busy after receiving so much mana from everyone. The king’s expression clearly showed that mana supply took precedence over reading materials. He probably wanted to take a breather after supplying mana rather than dealing with the materials.